The GOP: Still trying to be a lily-white party?
By Paul M. Weyrich
web posted September 30, 2002
Ron Greer is one of the most interesting and colorful candidates
to run for Congress this year. He is running as a black
Republican in Wisconsin's Second District, which is newly
configured since the state lost a seat in re-districting. His
opponent is Tammy Baldwin (D), the only avowed lesbian in the
House of Representatives. She was first elected in 1998 when
tens of thousands of University of Wisconsin students flooded
Dane County (Madison) polling places. Not only was Ms.
Baldwin elected but the margin of new liberal voters helped to
topple Mark Neumann (R), the First District Congressman who
was running against freshman Senator Russ Feingold (D), who
had defeated two term Senator Bob Kasten (R) six years earlier.
Neumann ran well elsewhere in the state. The Democratic margin
in Milwaukee was less than expected. Neumann said he just
could not overcome the estimated 50,000 new voters who
showed up on Election Day, unregistered, to help Tammy
Baldwin. He lost the race by less than 38,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Ms. Baldwin's margin declined in 2000. If history is
any guide, a legislator with decreasing margins is a good target
for defeat. Moreover, the new district puts some Republican
parts of the old First District in the second district. Rock County,
which has always produced winning margins for Republican
candidates, has been split in half. Ms. Baldwin got Beloit and the
heavily Republican Green County. In addition, some of Rep. Jim
Sensenbrenner's district was also attached to the second district.
Sensenbrenner (R) is Chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee, and his district was very overpopulated. It is the
most heavily Republican district in the state. The point of all of
this is that Ron Greer is running in a brand new district, one that
is much more favorable to his message than the old district had
been. And in the old district, Ms. Baldwin only received 51
percent of the vote in the 2000 election.
Greer's occupation, prior to his resigning and running for
Congress, was that of firefighter. That is one of the few jobs
these days that the public views favorably. You would think that
the Republican Party would be excited about this opportunity.
Long-time political operatives who have met Greer have
pronounced him to be an exciting candidate with a winning
personality.
The problem for Greer is that he is broke. He used all of his
resources to win a multi-candidate primary with 61 percent of
the vote. Instead of the GOP rushing to provide him with the
maximum allocation of money allowed under the law, Greer's
party has told everyone who will listen that he has no chance.
Just why would that be? He is working and getting support from
the black churches, something no other GOP candidate has been
able to do. The district is far more hospitable to his views than
was the old district. Social conservatives, who had not been able
to support the past several candidates because of their pro-
abortion stance, have signed on to Greer's campaign with great
enthusiasm. He has an impressive precinct organization which
previous candidates lacked.
This is no endorsement of either candidate. But the situation cries
out for answers. If a white candidate had won the primary,
would the party still be saying he or she had no chance? Is it
because Greer comes from the wrong side of the tracks that the
GOP's country club set have nixed him? When J.C. Watts won
the GOP nomination for Congress in Oklahoma in 1994 some
Republicans didn't really want a black representing them. Hence,
his first race was close. Subsequently he won over the district to
the point that the Democrats didn't even bother to run a credible
candidate against him. When Alan Keyes, the former UN
Ambassador, ran twice for the Senate in Maryland, he charged
that the Maryland Republicans were racist because they really
didn't support a black candidate. When he first said that, I just
dismissed it as sour grapes. But looking at the Watts experience,
and now seeing what is being done to Greer, maybe Keyes had
a point.
Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress
Foundation (http://www.freecongress.org).
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